Who is South Jersey’s college football team?

16 08 2008
by Jared Smith

We all know Atlantic City is a distant relative of the Philadelphia sports family, so that makes the professional rooting interest pretty much set in stone with Eagles, Phillies, Sixers and Flyers leading the pack.  However the city of Philadelphia is very fickle when it comes to NCAA rooting interests, some people stick to the hometown team of Temple, some consider Penn State the hometown college for Philly residents, and even some go as far away as Rutgers for their fanhoods.  So with all of those teams factoring into the equation in South Jersey, my question to this blog is what is the official college team for the Atlantic City area?

Happy Valley would be a lot happier with the support of South Jersey's faithful pigskin fans

Happy Valley would be a lot happier with the support of South Jersey

For those of you that don’t know me personally, I am a recent Penn State graduate who moved to this area for career purposes.  In the few months that I’ve lived here, I have not seen that much support for any of the three schools that I just mentioned.  I see some PSU apparel here and there but nothing like I expected.  I thought Jersey was all about Penn State, but I guess only the northern and central parts agree with that sentiment.   Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : College Football, Penn State

So close, but yet so far….

16 08 2008
Can Mike Mussina finally crack the 20 win plateau?
Can Mike Mussina finally crack the 20 win plateau?

By Jared Smith

In baseball, similar to life, some achievements are simply unattainable.  No matter how hard you try and no matter how much work you put into it, you come up a one-step short every time.  Whether it’s bad luck or bad karma, sometimes you just can’t break through that glass ceiling that ominously hangs above your head.  In a nutshell, those few proverbial sentences sum up the career of Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina.  

 

In 18 seasons as a starting pitcher in the majors, Mussina has never won a World Series, never thrown a no-hitter or perfect game, and has never won 20 games, which is the current bench-mark for starting pitcher excellence in today’s game.  However as hopeless as those lack of accomplishments may sound, Mussina has still made an extraordinary career for himself, especially after losing the zip on his once mid-90’s fastball as he has completely evolved into the typical mold of a “finesse” pitcher. Read the rest of this entry »


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Utley for MVP?….if not then who?

12 08 2008
Phil's second baseman Chase Utley is one of many in consideration for NL MVP

Phillies second baseman Chase Utley is one of many in contention for the 2008 NL MVP

by Jared Smith

There are a lot of uncertainties in the Phillies clubhouse these days.  Will the starting rotation be able to have success in October?  Will the offense stay consistent enough to hold off the Mets and surprising Marlins in the NL East?  However, in the humble opinion of this writer, one of the most perplexing questions surrounding the Phillies these days is whether or not second basemen Chase Utley is a legitimate MVP candidate.

It’s been an up-and-down year for Chase as his laid back attitude has irked the uptight Philly crowd at times.  However the former UCLA Bruin has shown signs of extraordinary power and hitting prowess this season, as evident with his 22 home runs through his team’s first 69 games.  Also, during this same stretch, Utley hit a round-tripper in five consecutive games two separate times!  In addition, his average was well over the .300 mark for virtually the entire first two months of the season, finally dipping below after an 0-for-4 game versus Boston on June 17th.  Basically, with Ryan Howard struggling immensely early on, Utley carried the offense for the first half of the Phillies schedule. Read the rest of this entry »


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Beijing, here we come

8 08 2008
Indians outfielder Matt LaPorta could be trading Olympic gold for a spot on a major league roster this season

Indians OF Matt LaPorta might be giving up a spot on a major league roster this season for Olympic gold

by Jared Smith

So, it’s that time again, the Summer Olympics…or if you want to be official about it, The Games of the XXIX Olympiad.  This year’s version of the games features 10,500 athletes participating in 302 events across 28 sports.  However due to the crippling 12-hour time difference between Beijing and the United States, most internet surfing citizens of this great free land will know the outcome of these events long before they are ever seen on that wonderful network with the little peacock in the lower left-hand corner. 

However, much to the delight of myself and many other internet sports geeks throughout the country, NBC has a new twist on this year’s version of the Olympics, live internet simulcasting of every Read the rest of this entry »


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Categories : Baseball, Olympics

He’s leaving on a Jet plane…

7 08 2008

It’s official, the Brett Favre-Green Bay saga is in the books, and by some miracle or grace of god the New York Jets managed to pull off the biggest trade in the history of the franchise.  The terms of the deal are still up in the air as the unconditional draft pick the Packers will receive will depend upon how many snaps Favre plays for the Green and White and whether or not the team makes the playoffs or dare I say…the Super Bowl.

I think the real issue here is how Brett will be received in the Big Apple.  He’ll learn quickly that he’s not in Kansas…I mean Green Bay anymore.  Playing in New York is a completely different animal then playing anywhere else in the country with the exception of maybe Philadelphia.  If he throws half as many interceptions as he did with the Packers in his career he’ll get booed out of the Meadowlands so fast his head will spin.  This is without a doubt uncharted waters for Favre and it will be very interesting to see how he reacts and performs under the intense New York spotlight.

On the other side of the coin it is a groundbreaking move for the Jets.  Considering that they have always played second fiddle to the Giants and that they have to play all of their home games in GIANTS Stadium, this move finally creates some buzz for the Green and White.  Granted, this move doesn’t make them a Super Bowl favorite or even a favorite in the ultra-competitive AFC East, however it does give them something to latch on to for the upcoming season and it is an ENORMOUS step up from their current quarterback situation.  

All-in-all, it is going to be an interesting season for the Green and White, and as a Jets fan myself I can’t wait to see number 4 under center for the J-E-T-S come September 4th.


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